Send off!!

So, the guys are about ready to head out. Showers taken, parade clothes packed and loaded. Gonna feed and water the ponies one more time.  When you're watching the parade, Houston, Judith and family will be riding in the wagon. John and Joe will be in the driver's seat, Joe doing the driving.  Jack will be in the right lead and Kennedy will be walking to the right of him.  In the right swing will be Bud with Jonni walking with him.  Duke will be in the wheel just in front of the wagon and Jon will be walking next to him.  On the left side will be Thunder and Adam; Hank and Wes and Jim and Mike.

The parade will be aired live, 8am California time and 10am Minnesota time.  If you want to see more of the horses and crew, tune into RFD TV or the Home and Garden channel will also have better coverage of the horse units. The Dakota Thunder Shire Hitch will round the media corner between 8:20 and 8:30 (they're actually telling us 8:22-8:24 and this rose crew is very organized!).

 

 

After we sent the crew off, Miss, Carol and Tim went to Viva for a New Year's Eve celebration!

 

 

 

 

It's almost here - Dec 31

It's been a really wild day! Started with a meeting after breakfast to figure out last minute parade details.  Joe and John will look handsome at the wheel with their black cowboy hats and suits.  Joe was reviewing some details, for example, he told the kids "pay attention to the horses, not the crowd".  One of they boy's comments was "what if there's a pretty girl?". They also discussed that it was low intel for terror alerts.  The kids had comments for that as well, "what does low mean, 30% chance, so 3 out of 10 miles?".  Just loving all of these cool moments with the kids.

Laundry, ocean for those that didn't make it yesterday, they also accidentally hit Rodeo Drive on the way back, cleaning the wagon and decorating it with garland and yellow roses, washing horses, packing overnight food, bags, cots for Joe, John, Daryl and the walkers. Yep, they'll be sleeping (probably not much) in the back of the semi on the freeway tonight with the horses. Wow, there are so many details yet, it's crazy!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Horse rides, ocean, roses and more

Dec 30 - no rest on this vacation!  Jon, Mike, Kennedy, Adam, Jonni and Wes went for a horse back ride this morning and were able to view the Hollywood sign, Madonna's house and said the view was absolutely beautiful.  They had a great time.

JoAnn and Tim went to check out the parade route and where we would be watching the parade. They also did some other touring, Farmers' Market, ocean and more.

John, Carol, Mike, Adam, Kennedy, Jon and Jonni went to Santa Monica.  The traffic was horrible, but was fun to see the ocean and the Pier.

Kennedy asked William what he did today and he said "have fun!"

Joe was working with the florist on the yellow roses for parade day.  He also started working on the route home and fuel permits.

Daryl hung back at the barn with LeRoy and talked with folks who came out to see the horses. Carol's aunt and uncle Tim and Wanda Daniels came out to see the horses.

The horses got to take it easy today, just resting up for their big day.

 

 

 

 

 

Marshall's Breakfast - Dec 30

Joe and John went to the Marshall's Breakfast this morning.  They learned all of the last minute details for parade day.  It's really happening, the Dakota Thunder Shires are going to be in the Rose Parade on Jan. 1!

Equestfest - Dec 29

Yesterday was a blast! At breakfast we were discussing the big day ahead of us and Wyatt commented, "it's not the enchilada though, that's Friday".  We had Equestfest and they sold over 3500 tickets to the show.  The boys drove great with Jack and Thunder in the lead, beautiful as always.  Bud and Hank were in the swing and Jim and Duke in the wheel. Owners, Houston and Judith Haugo were here to watch the crew get the horses ready for the show.  Joe was interviewed by LA ABC.  He knew we were from the midwest immediately as we were all running around in short sleeves and the Cali's had on their parkas! There were other film crews on site as well. Ellen Swagerty, Equestrian Chair, said the Shires brought tears to her eyes.  Not gonna lie, there were several people who had tears!
The other horse exhibitors were awesome too. You can check out the Rose Bowl events for the other exhibitors. http://www.tournamentofroses.com/rose-parade/participants
Judy (Hart, originally from Fulda, MN, she graduated with Delano, Carol's Dad) Freking, son Fred and his sons, Jack (how cool is that? same name as one of the lead horses) and Trey stopped at the barn before the show.  Ed Thraen's (LeRoy's sister Janice's niece) daughter, Shelly stopped out too.  What a wonderful afternoon!
We relaxed in the evening and Fr. Tim made a great supper for the crew.  Gotta tell ya, we function pretty good as a team.  Everyone has their role to play: caring for the horses, getting them ready for the show, cooking, cleaning, errand runners - it's actually organized chaos!

Made a couple of local newspapers back home:
http://www.marshallindependent.com/page/content.detail/id/578381/Headed-for-the-roses
http://www.dglobe.com/news/3912558-coming-roses-shire-six-horse-hitch-be-featured-tournament-roses-parade

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Equestfest Rehearsal

This morning Pam Minick from RFD TV interviewed Joe, John and Jonni.  That was pretty neat! Here's the link to see when it will air, be sure to chcek the right time zone.  Looks like it will air Dec. 31 and live coverage for the parade on Jan.1. http://www.rfdtv.com/category/267411/schedule 

We talked with some horse folks from around the country. Had an interesting conversation with Tom from the Wells Fargo Stage Coach. He gave us some tips on Equestfest and the Rose Parade.  It's getting closer, still can't believe we're here!

We had Equestfest Rehearsal this afternoon. The boys drove great. Houston, Judith and their family and JoAnn, LeRoy and Tim arrived this afternoon.  The girls are washing horses again and then we're off to a reception, dinner and dance for all of the horse exhibitors.